


Over A Cup Of Honeyed Chai

by Sashetha



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Art, Desert, Digital Art, Digital Painting, Drabble Collection, Fantasy, M/M, Male Slash, Non-Human Humanoid Society, Original Character(s), kindof??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:47:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22018123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sashetha/pseuds/Sashetha
Summary: Some go into the desert to get lost, only to end up found.This started out as my attempt at a drabble but quickly became more an exercise between shifting character perspectives and world building on a tight word budget.Shyron belongs to Scarlet_Claws and Tsu to me. Character art has been added to the first two chapters.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Scarlet_Claws](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Claws/gifts).



Tsu crouched in the corner, watching the winged creature intently.

Between them were several pieces of broken furniture.

He saw it, no, _him_ looking back at him with clouded eyes.

When the other first moved Tsu flinched.

Only when he returned, carrying a steaming clay cup filled with something sweet and floral did some of the tension in the air dissipate.

He approached slowly, before crouching down with the tempting offering.

Tsu reached to accept it with some hesitation.

He could tell it was too hot to drink just yet, but took a small sip…

This taste was something new.


	2. Chapter 2

Shyron had found the unconscious insectoid during one of his morning flights.

A lucky coincidence, seeing as had he postponed his outing, even by a few hours, the sun may have scorched the underground creature alive.

In fact, it had been surprising just how lively it had gotten once he’d fed it some water and allowed it to cool off in the shade of his livingroom.

He wouldn’t have thought a creature so slight possessed the capacity to wreak such havoc.

Well, at least it had calmed down now…and it seemed it quite liked his honeyed chai.

Shyron smiled weakly.


	3. Chapter 3

Tsu stared at his would-be rescuer.

He was pale, as if bleached by the sun, and quite a bit taller than himself.

Where he would have expected to see segments too there were none, except folds which revealed the other’s skin to be softer and far more malleable than his own. 

It was all strangely alien.

Especially the eyes, a peculiar mixture of white and blue.

Somehow though, still a far cry from what he’d imagined when his mother had told him stories of winged beasts that flew along the scorching surface.

Tsu took another sip from the clay cup.


	4. Chapter 4

“What to do with you…” Shyron mused.

What he’d brought into his home was dangerous.

His people had once, long ago, clashed with its and barely survived the onslaught of their overwhelming numbers.

Tales of hapless travelers being dragged away into eternally long underground tunnel-mazes were also numerous

Nevertheless, this one failed to scare him.

There just was something oddly…familiar about the motion of its wide inky eyes warily fluttering about the room, before once more resting upon himself with suspicion. 

Something Shyron could understand.

And further a question lingered: Why had this one been left alone on the surface?


	5. Chapter 5

Sweetness was prickling and dancing across Tsu’s tongue.

The liquid had an almost floral scent to it too, the likes of he’d only ever experienced around the upper casts.

Nothing even remotely like the earthy smell of his rations.

He wondered what that said about his rank.

Which, come to think of, among the upper casts some had wings too, only these one’s seemed sturdier.

Even covered in some sort of thin, frilled scales and… folded on his back quite differently?

Momentarily Tsu imagined him soaring through the skies.

A shiver crept down his spine.

The images felt suspiciously vivid.


	6. Chapter 6

“Shyron...Shy-ron…” The harpy slowly kept pronouncing while pointing to himself.

The struggle was hopeless though, only garnering him that familiarly distrustful and confused look.

Eventually he sighed in defeat and his shoulders slumped. 

“What am I even doing…Trying...to talk to you.”

He chuckled.

“I have duties to attend to, don’t I?”

There was a heavy pause.

Then he heard it…

The soft click of a clay cup being gently placed upon a stone floor, followed by a tight inhale.

Then astonishingly, a mellow voice with a slightly raspy quality to it.

Like frayed silk.

“Shyron.”

The mimicry was near perfect.


	7. Chapter 7

Shyron was staring at Tsu as if he’d grown a second head.

The zir’s brows furrowed slightly.

The sounds were pronounced differently, but it’s not like he didn’t possess the ability to speak.

So why did _he_ get to look at him with such unmasked astonishment?

Did he not see that to him _he_ was the alien one, living in an inhospitable, charred land?

“Don’t take me for a fool…” Tsu mumbled quietly in his own tongue.

At least, the carved bedrock felt familiar and cool against his back.

Like something solid he could understand amidst a world of unfamiliarity. 


	8. Chapter 8

Shyron’s smile widened.

He felt relieved it, no!- he was talking, even if he couldn’t understand a word.

Only the tone had sounded…annoyed.

Or was it just his imagination?

He paused to look closely.

Yes, those glassy eyes were definitely narrowed…

Also tinged by a flicker of amber he’d somehow failed to notice until now.

“I don’t know how I’ve offended you, but you know my name, so…would you mind sharing yours?”

Shyron tried repeatedly waving his hand in his direction as if that would somehow carry his point across.

The silent standstill that followed was clutched by deafening anticipation.


	9. Chapter 9

Tsu understood _what_ the other wanted.

Only not _why_. 

Was this mere curiosity or some sort of ruse to get his guard down?

Well, either way, he couldn’t do much about it.

He knew so long the sun stood high attempting an escape would be a death sentence.

Which had been the entire point in the first place.

Even if he somehow survived for long enough, he knew there was no way back.

But to think, he’d be saved by on one of _them_ …

He smiled weakly, of all things, at the strange creature he’d been taught to fear.

“Tsu.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Tsu…” Shyron murmured to himself, before letting out a soft chuckle.

Once more this garnered him an offended look.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just…” The name was ridiculously cute.

But letting his guard down he knew to be a mistake.

He wasn’t just putting himself at risk.

He had people who depended on him.

People who would not approve of him bringing an enemy into their midst. 

Shyron sighed slowly before reaching for the clay cup sitting between them.

Strange...

There was still some chai still left.

He looked up to see the other watching.

“Ah I see…Thank you.” 


	11. Chapter 11

Now that Tsu considered it, he probably didn’t have to share.

But it was hard to kill old habits, and a soft smile did reveal that the gesture had been appreciated.

Tsu watched him drink slowly.

When the guards had first shoved him out of the tunnels, he’d been terrified.

Shut his eyes tight and hid at the base of a dune.

Shivering with every phantom stroke of the wind.

The pale eyes that looked back at him now shone a bit like the many thousands which had peered down from that dark sky.

Only, these ones didn’t frighten him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might pick this story up again in a more traditional format some time in the future, but for now I think this is as good a place to stop as any. I had a lot of fun writing within the given constraints and hope it made for an enjoyable read!


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